Washington Wizards at Portland Trail Blazers

Simons scores 30 points as Trail Blazers beat last-place Wizards 112-97

Shaedon Sharpe added 16 points, and rookie center Donovan Clingan had 11 points and 13 rebounds in 25 minutes. Deni Avdija and Duop Reath both scored 15.

Simons shot 10 for 17, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range, and made all five of his free throws.

Alex Sarr led the Wizards with 20 points. Tristan Vukcevic had 17 points and eight rebounds.

Simons scored 16 points in the first half to help put the Blazers (30-39) up 59-49 at the break.

Takeaways Wizards: Last in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards (15-52) dropped to 3-3 on a seven-game trip. They had won two in a row and four of six. Washington was coming off a 126-123 victory Saturday night in Denver.

Trail Blazers: Improved to 18-16 at home and moved within three games of Dallas for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference, with Phoenix in between.

Key moment Portland took the lead for good at 46-43 on a 3-pointer by Simons with 3:13 remaining in the second quarter. Those were the first of his 10 straight points in a 13-0 run capped by a 3 from Avdija.

Key stat The Wizards committed 16 turnovers, eight more than the Trail Blazers. Portland finished with 15 steals, including five by Matisse Thybulle in 22 minutes off the bench.

Up next Wizards: Wrap up a long road swing Wednesday night at Utah in a matchup between the two worst teams in the NBA.

Trail Blazers: Continue a seven-game homestand Wednesday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies.

Regular Season Series

POR wins series 2-0